False claims about Donald Trump’s health spread widely on social media this week, even after the U.S. president publicly dismissed them as “fake news.”
Speculation intensified following the 79-year-old’s absence from public events last week, fueling hashtags such as “Trump dead,” which appeared in about 104,000 posts on X and generated more than 35 million views, according to misinformation watchdog NewsGuard.
Much of the online chatter relied on manipulated or misleading content. Among them were an old photo of an ambulance at the White House, an out-of-context image of the U.S. flag at half-staff, and a digitally altered picture of Trump’s face, falsely suggesting he had suffered a stroke.
Some users also pointed to supposed road closures near Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland as evidence of treatment for a serious illness — claims that proved baseless.
The rumors persisted despite Trump’s posts on Truth Social insisting he has “never felt better” and a White House press conference on Tuesday where he publicly rejected the speculation.
The episode highlights how falsehoods can thrive online, amplified by political divisions and distrust of institutions. Presidential health has long drawn scrutiny, but the focus has sharpened in recent years as the U.S. has seen its two oldest-ever occupants in the Oval Office.
Trump, the oldest person ever elected U.S. president, has repeatedly accused Democrats of concealing Joe Biden’s health challenges. Biden, 82 when he left office in January, was forced to abandon his 2024 re-election campaign after a widely criticized debate performance against Trump.
